HOUSE Bill 3712 was filed by
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda which seeks to comprehensively solve the
country's traffic woes.

The bill, Salceda said, will
necessitate a declaration of “state of
traffic and congestion crisis” and will grant President Rodrigo Duterte
emergency powers and additional resources to address the “Carmageddon” within
three years.

The powers, which will handed to
the President will give him “necessary and proper capacity to effectively
respond to multiple problems caused by the worsening and debilitating land and
air traffic crisis in the country.”

The horrendous traffic and
congestion problem, particularly in Metro Manila, is now referred to as
“Carmageddon” by commuters to describe their daily ordeals.

HB 3712 titled “Traffic and
Congestion Crisis Act of 2016” proposes to: declare the existence of traffic
and congestion crisis;adopt state policy to address it based on the
constitutional directive of promoting social justice; grant the President
emergency powers to solve the crisis; mandate the formulation of a Decongestion
and Transportation Network Development Reform Plan for four sectors: Land-based
transport, Rail and Toll Roads, Air transport, and Seaports; designate the DOTr
as crisis manager; authorize special modes of procurement; install safeguards
through the Executive Order on Freedom of Information and a Congressional
Oversight Committee; and provide an initial P20 billion for its implementation.

Salceda, vice chair of the House
Committees on Appropriations and Ways and Means, said his bill “provides an
answer, the necessary solution — an innovative, effective, swift, and never
before seen solution — that will stop the crisis from escalating and spreading
to other urban hubs like Cebu and Davao, alleviate the situation, and prevent
its recurrence.”

He noted that the traffic crisis
takes a heavy toll on the economy which now translates to billions of pesos in
daily losses and has become so serious that conventional remedies have proven
futile and ineffective.

“The problem has reached a point
where the government is forced to think out of the box and to come up with a novel
course of action,” he said.

Under his proposed emergency
powers, the President “may reorganize and rationalize the existing structure of
the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Land Transportation Office, Land
Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Civil Aviation Authority of
the Philippines, Civil Aeronautics Board, Metro Manila Development Authority,
PNP-Highway Patrol Group, and other agencies in the transportation sector.”

The bill also provides that
within six months from its enactment, the President may:

It also proposes to authorize
special modes of procurement to immediately provide the facilities and
infrastructures and cut through red tape, but “install safeguards through the
implementation of EO on Freedom and Information and the creation of Congressional
Oversight Committee.”

HB 3712 likewise provides an
initial budget of P20 billion for the early phases of the program, sourced from
the current year’s budget of agencies implementing the act, and from the savings
of the national government.

In filing HB 3712, Salceda said
woeful stories about commuters caught in Metro Manila’s traffic “are the stuff
that Metro Manila traffic nightmares are made of.”

An economist, Salceda said there
is no shortage of data and literature on Metro Manila’s traffic nightmare
which, aside from the torture it imposes, has also taken serious effects on the
economy.

The Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) said in a recently published report that land and air
traffic congestion is costing the country a daily loss of P2.4 billion in
potential income.

The National Economic Development
Authority (NEDA) said this daily loss will balloon to P6 billion daily by 2030
if no interventions are undertaken.

JICA also reported that more cars
on the road are causing a rise in greenhouse emissions from 4.7 million tons
per year in 2012 to 5.72 million tons by 2030, causing a staggering cost in human
health and climate change.

CAAP has reported that airport
congestion is causing the airlines at least P7 billion per year in fuel and
engine maintenance costs.

And to top it all off,
international traffic software application Waze said Metro Manila had “the
worst traffic in the world” in 2015.

Salceda said based on research,
Metro Manila residents spend 1,000 hours in traffic per year while metropolitan
areas in other countries spend only 300 hours.

He added that studies have
clearly established that the massive and horrendous traffic congestion in the
country has assumed the nature and magnitude of a national emergency, which
requires immediate, decisive, and comprehensive solutions. AJRSP with PNA

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